Abstract
This paper addresses the application of the LEADER (2007-2013) programme in the rural areas of Eastern Germany. Adopting a monograph approach and structuralist methods of sociology, it analyses the forms of participation of the local stakeholders and the operation of the action system that supports the collective approach towards local development. The analysis examines the hypothesis that the learning of the LEADER approach, based on endogenous development practices and principles of local governance, is related to effects of geographical context formed by spatial configuration, the structure of the local economy, and the heritage of the past.